The Ultimate SaaS Data Protection Checklist
A thorough SaaS security checklist must be used when vetting potential partners, and two already approved partners should be given special consideration (when creating a new integration or connected service). Legal, GRC, security, and IT teams should be involved in the process to ensure compliance and safety.
We’ve compiled a number of factors to aid you in making the best choice when selecting a new service. Below is the ultimate saas data protection checklist so continue reading.
1. Adequate backups
Backups are one of the fundamental pillars of any effective data protection plan. Backups offer an entirely independent duplicate of your data that is independent of the production environment. Additionally, backups enable businesses to restore data that has been lost, destroyed, encrypted, or otherwise impacted by a cybersecurity incident.
Businesses may erroneously believe they don’t need to back up their data when it comes to cloud SaaS environments like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or Salesforce because SaaS environments automatically secure your data. The shared responsibility concept, however, asserts the opposite.
You are in charge of your data when it comes to it. For instance, since you do not own the backups, tools like file versioning offered by cloud service providers like Google and Microsoft are not enterprise backups of your data. Additionally, that duplicate of your data disappears if you stop paying for the cloud SaaS subscription.
If your cloud SaaS data is properly backed up, you own the data, can take it with you regardless of the cloud SaaS subscription, and have more control over it.
2. Updating anti-virus software
Businesses should be sure to constantly check for anti-malware programme upgrades. Create a timetable for the device’s pre-determined automatic scans. Additionally, you need to safeguard any media that you insert into your workstation.
Larger firms should set up their workstations so that they can notify the status of antivirus updates to a central server, which can then automatically apply updates as necessary.
3. Enabling Data Encryption
TLS is used by many channels that interact with SaaS programmes to protect moving data. To protect data while it is at rest, the majority of SaaS providers now include a data encryption function. For some providers, it comes as standard, while for others, customers must turn it on specifically.
Security teams should also research the safety precautions to determine which ones best suit the services being used. The wisest course of action in this situation will be to permit data encryption.
4. Putting in place Data Deletion Policy
You must make a decision regarding how to keep and erase the data of your customers. Sometimes it seems sense to make sure that customers’ data is erased programmatically in accordance with their consent.
Data deletion is a serious commitment, therefore you should carry it out carefully and on schedule, making sure to keep accurate logs.
5. Utilize AI for SaaS Data Monitoring
For humans to manage and keep track of the intricate and enormous amounts of data held in SaaS to ensure security and compliance. Businesses should use AI if they want to overcome security and regulatory challenges.
In contrast to human capabilities, AI technologies can interact, parse, and aggregate data very quickly, more intensely, and continuously. Additionally, you will require these AI-powered technologies to solve tricky and complex security and compliance problems in hybrid systems.
